At the October board of directors’ meeting last week, the board created a proposal to increase membership from $30 to $60 annually. Additional input is sought during a 2nd public hearing planned Nov. 15.

Other options include a variety of billing options including two $30 billing dates of March 1 and Sept. 1. An existing discount for seniors and students would be extended to veterans under one proposal. A scholarship style application for assistance for those who could not afford the increase is also being considered. A early renewal program under current rates prior to implementation of any fee increase is also proposed.

Membership fees at Access Sacramento have been unchanged since 2002 when they were increased $5 to $30/annually from the original $25 price set in 1987.

Improvements at Access Sacramento

Access Sacramento in the last three years has finished a complete upgrade to high-definition equipment and this year will complete a remodel of its digital media lab. This higher level of capacity combines with urgent concerns over the future of cable broadcasting in America.

Proposed Cable Changes Could Affect Funding

Board members heard a summary of proposed rule-making from the FCC to allow the cable industry to keep more on the money it collects instead of allowing some to partially flow back to the cities and counties who mandate the existence of public, education and government access channels like Access Sacramento.

The Access Sacramento board of directors sought input on whether it might be time to consider an increase in the annual membership fees based on the FCC proposals, on other indicators of reduced revenue because of the the public’s shift to other forms of video delivery including satellite and internet delivered shows.

Public Hearing Nov. 15 5:30 p.m.

Monthly Board Meeting

Regular adult membership includes the opportunity to provide up to 60-minutes of video programming for one of Access Sacramento’s community media public access channels.

The annual fee for seniors or full-time students is $20 per year.

Public comments on Nov. 15 will be limited to a maximum of three-minutes and a those wishing to speak should fill out a speaker card. The board will not directly respond during a public comment period but will take all input into consideration during board discussion.

For those who desire to comment but cannot attend the Nov. 15 meeting, e-mail comments will be forwarded to the full board of directors by e-mailing to AccessBOD@gmail.com

Eben E.B. Burgoon has been writing short fiction, sketch comedy, and spec scripts for more than a decade.

Eben E. B. Burgoon

The past six years, he has been focusing on writing comic books, and co-created “Eben07: Covert Custodian,” an espionage-humor webcomic about the janitors who clean the mess left behind by super-spies, and now is focused on his new project, B-Squad: Soldiers of Misfortune, which follows the ongoing adventures of a misfit group of mercenaries sent on equally dangerous and ridiculous missions.

This past year, Burgoon was an Editor’s Choice pick for Best of Sacramento for his work in comic books, collaborated with the Crocker Art Museum to start “Crocker-Con” this past November, was part of the inaugural Sacramento Arts & Business Council’s Flywheel Creative Economy Incubator, and orchestrated a successful Kickstarter campaign for B-Squad that raised over $6000 in 30 days.

Starting in 2014, Burgoon will be working closely with non-profit group, 916Ink to teach script writing to students interested in writing comic books and their efforts will be turned into a comic book professional illustrators and hopes to continue community outreach and bring comic books as an art and medium into more peoples every day reading habits.

While studying international relations at Chico State and he minored in creative writing – founded a campus improv troupe, and then studied sketch comedy writing with Chicago’s Second City.

Burgoon is an avid lover of animation, television, and film. By joining Access Sacramento’s board, his hope is to continue their tradition of giving new voices and sources of creativity an avenue for distribution and to help reach new parts of the community by bringing his experience, fun-nature, and creative spirit to the board.

Access Sacramento welcomes Burgoon and encourages others who might be interested in served on the Access Sacramento Board of Directors to contact Board Chair JoAnn Fuller or Executive Director Gary Martin for an application.